Methods and Systems to Determine Availability for Real Time Communications via Virtual Reality

Abstract

Methods and systems to determine availability of people for real time communications via a virtual reality environment. One embodiment includes: associating an avatar with an advertisement; determining a location of the avatar in a virtual reality world; and determining whether an advertiser of the advertisement is available for real time communications based at least in part on the location of the avatar in the virtual reality world. In one embodiment, the availability of the advertiser is determined for real time communications via the virtual reality world and for real time communications outside the virtual reality world based on an online presence status of the avatar, a schedule of the advertiser, and/or the location of the avatar in the virtual reality world.

1 . A method, comprising:
 associating an avatar with an advertisement;   determining a location of the avatar in a virtual reality world; and   determining whether an advertiser of the advertisement is available for real time communications based at least in part on the location of the avatar in the virtual reality world.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual reality world comprises a three dimensional model; and the virtual reality world is presented to residents of the virtual reality world based on respective view points of residents in the virtual reality world. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining of whether the advertiser is available for real time communications comprises determining whether the location of the avatar is within a predetermine region in the virtual reality world. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the advertiser is determined to be available for a virtual meeting in the virtual reality world when the location of the avatar is within the predetermine region in the virtual reality world. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 presenting the advertisement with a reference in the virtual reality world when the advertiser is available for a virtual meeting in the virtual reality world, the reference being selectable to teleport a customer to a location in the virtual reality world for a virtual meeting with the advertiser.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining of whether the advertiser is available for real time communications comprises determining whether the advertiser is available for real time communications based on a schedule of the advertiser and the location of the avatar in the virtual reality world. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein if the location of the avatar is within a predetermined region in the virtual reality and the schedule of the advertiser indicates that the advertiser currently accepts requests for real time communication sessions, the advertiser is determined to be available for real time communications via the virtual reality world; and
 wherein if the location of the avatar is not within a predetermined region in the virtual reality and the schedule of the advertiser indicates that the advertiser currently accepts requests for real time communication sessions, the advertiser is determined to be available for real time communications via a voice connection outside the virtual reality world.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the voice connection comprises a telephonic connection that is at least partially over a public switched telephone network (PSTN). 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining of whether the advertiser is available for real time communications comprises determining whether the advertiser is available for real time communications based on an online presence status of the avatar, a schedule of the advertiser, and the location of the avatar in the virtual reality world. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a connection provider assigning the avatar to the advertiser;   wherein the location of the avatar is determined via the connection provider.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a connection provider providing an virtual object to be attached to the avatar;   wherein the location of the avatar is determined via the virtual object.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to a determination that the location of the avatar is within a predetermined region of the virtual reality world and the advertiser currently accepts requests for real time communications according to a schedule specified by the advertiser, presenting the advertisement with a reference in the virtual reality world;   wherein when selected by a customer avatar, the reference causes the customer avatar to be teleported to a meeting location in the virtual reality world.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the meeting location is specified prior to the advertisement being presented. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the meeting location is determined based on a location of the avatar. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to a determination that the location of the avatar is within a predetermined region of the virtual reality world and the advertiser currently accepts requests for real time communications according to a schedule specified by the advertiser, presenting the advertisement with a reference in the virtual reality world;   wherein when selected by a customer avatar, the reference causes the avatar associated with the advertisement to be teleported to a meeting location in the virtual reality world; and   wherein the avatar associated with the advertisement is under control of the advertiser in the virtual reality world.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the meeting location is determined based on a location of the customer avatar, or a location specified by the advertiser. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to a determination that the location of the avatar is within a predetermined region of the virtual reality world and the advertiser currently accepts requests for real time communications according to a schedule specified by the advertiser, presenting the advertisement with a reference in the virtual reality world, the reference to be used to request a connection provider to provide a telephonic connection between a user of the customer avatar and the advertiser.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 in response to a request received via the reference presented with the advertisement, the connection provider placing a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call to a telecommunication carrier which bridges the VoIP call to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) to the advertiser; and   the connection provider causing the telecommunication carrier to establish a media connection to connect the advertiser and the avatar via the VoIP call, wherein the media connection does not go through the connection provider.   
     
     
         19 . A machine readable media embodying instructions, the instructions causing a machine to perform a method, the method comprising:
 associating an avatar with an advertisement;   determining a location of the avatar in a virtual reality world; and   determining whether an advertiser of the advertisement is available for real time communications based at least in part on the location of the avatar in the virtual reality world.   
     
     
         20 . A data processing system, comprising:
 means for associating an avatar with an advertisement;   means for determining a location of the avatar in a virtual reality world; and   means for determining whether an advertiser of the advertisement is available for real time communications based at least in part on the location of the avatar in the virtual reality world.